Jorge Soler won't disappoint the Miami Marlins in 2023

Kim Ng was heavily criticized for signing Jorge Soler prior to the 2022 season. In fact, there was a point that she was seen as a pretty bad GM. A point that may not have passed despite reports of what she was offering free agents and the recent free agent signing. Soler didn't do very well in 2022 to say the least, batting .207/.295.400 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI in 72 games and 270 AB. He won't be as disappointing in 2023 and here's why...

Jorge Soler won't disappoint the Miami Marlins in 2023.

Jorge Soler will be receiving $15 million in 2023 to most likely play DH. This will keep his terrible defense from LF and help The Fish by itself. He also has a player option for $9 million for 2024. That's the important part here, he will have a choice to take a pay cut or hit the free agent market in hopes of a better long-term deal. Common sense says that taking a pay cut wouldn't be preferable for him. This means that he has to play very well, in order to get better multi-year offers in free agency.

Injuries plagued Soler since his debut in 2014 with the Chicago Cubs as a top prospect. He batted .292/.330/.573 in 24 games and 89 AB that season. In 2015, he batted .262/.324/.399 in 101 games and 366 AB. In Chicago's World Series winning 2016 season he batted .238/.333/.436 in 86 games and 227 AB. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals prior to the 2017 season, during which he batted .144/.245/.258 in 35 games and 97 AB. In 2018 he batted .265/.354/.466 in 61 games and 223 AB. At this point, he had a pretty disappointing career to say the least.

In 2019 Soler finally stayed healthy and put everything together to bat .265/.354/.569 with 48 home runs and 117 RBI in 162 games and 589 AB. He was so good that he even received AL MVP votes. Unfortunately the shortened 2020 season and all of the complications with it, led to him batting just .228/.326/.443 that season. He split 2021 between Kansas City and the Atlanta Braves, batting .192/.288/.370 for the former and .269/.358/.524 for the latter. He played in 149 games and received 516 AB overall. He ended up helping Atlanta win the World Series and won the World Series MVP award.

I think that now that he's been healthier, he might be able to put it all together for one last big pay day (he is currently 30). At least that's my hope and prediction going into the 2023 season.